1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to livestock free stalls and more particularly to a livestock free stall and method of assembling the same which reduces onsite fabrication through the use of prefabricated posts and rail loops.
2. Background
Livestock free stalls have been in common usage for many years both for beef and dairy cattle. In particular, in the United States, livestock free stalls are used more commonly with dairy cattle.
The free stalls are installed inside of barns and other types of enclosures. These free stalls are called that because the stalls are freely accessible to the cattle. They are used to keep the cattle oriented so that their posterior ends are aligned uniformly so that manure and urine droppings fall in a designated place where the livestock will not lay in it and it can be conveniently flushed out when the barn is cleaned. Cattle are free to stand or lay down within the stall in a manner where they will not step on or lay on other cattle and thus can be far more easily managed.
The installation of free stalls, in the prior art, usually occurs at the time the barn is being erected. The stanchions or vertical posts are typically presited before the concrete floor is poured. In some installations, bolts to which the vertical posts or stanchions are to be attached are presited when the floor is poured. A top rail is installed interconnecting the tops of stanchions or posts and side rails are typically welded to the posts to create the stalls. This type of installation is not amendable to prefabrication of the parts that will eventually make up the free stall assemblies since it is difficult to accurately place the vertical posts or stanchions. As a result, prior art free stalls are typically the result of custom pipe fitting which is accomplished on the job site. This is slow, tedious and expensive work to perform requiring skilled labor, oftentimes located at a remote site.
Accordingly, what is needed is a new design for free stalls which is amendable to prefabrication using standardized tooling and jigs at a shop, followed by quick and simple assembly in the field. Also what is needed is a design for free stalls while where the dimensional tolerances between the vertical posts or stanchions as they are set in the concrete floor, is not critical to assembling of the free stalls.